Haircut
by zosimos
Summary: Sceptre of Flamel - Roy has been complaining about his hair for weeks.


Roy eyed the scissors in Edward's hand warily. He had been thinking all morning about the most tactful way to say it but could not come up with anything, so he had to fall back on the truth. "I don't know if I like the idea of you having those near my face," he said carefully.

"You are such a *baby*, Mustang," Edward said, tapping the closed point of the scissors against his automail hand as he studied Roy. "You've been complaining about your hair for weeks, you don't get to back out of this now."

It was true. Roy had never had his hair this long, not even in his rebellious teenage years prior to the military academy. Longer hair was second nature to Edward, but Roy had no idea how to take care of it. Edward had been brushing his hair for him every day, working the tangles out of it so expertly that Roy only felt the briefest of tugs.

All the same, he did not feel like himself with hair so long. It changed the way he looked in profile, the loose hair tickled the back of his neck during the day and occasionally got caught in Edward's automail at night. It had to go.

He had never once cut his own hair; back in the time *before* he went to the barber on base once a week for a trim. Edward had walked in on him staring uncertainly into the mirror, scissors in hand and a lock of hair in his fingers.

And that was how he found himself outside, sitting on a chair with Edward making humming noises with an incredibly sharp object about to get far too close to Roy's scalp for his comfort.

He knew, logically, that Edward had no plans or desire to hurt him. He also knew that, if he flinched away and Edward DID hurt him, it would heal very, very quickly. Somehow, neither of these thoughts reassured him. "I think I've changed my mind, I don't mind it," he said quickly.

Edward ran his fingers through Roys hair, starting at his scalp and down. He was working out the tangles as he thought about his plan of attack. "Would you relax? I can handle this."

Relax. Roy could relax. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it as he felt Edward take a lock of his hair firmly in two fingers and trim it.

He had to admit, he did like the feeling of Edward's fingers in his hair; one set of warm digits and the other cool metal, skating along his scalp as they both worked kinks and tangles out of Roy's wiry dark hair. Roy had not initially understood why Edward loved for Roy to brush his hair - when his hair was shorter it just took a quick run-through with a comb to be presentable. No one would sit and brush his hair for an hour in a slow, repetitive, sensual motion. At least, not until his hair got long enough for Edward to wrap it around his hand and tug.

Roy didn't open his eyes, he didn't feel it safe to even if Edward was still working on the hair on the back of his head. "Ed?"

"Hm?" It sounded like Edward had something in his mouth, with both sets of fingers in Roy's hair it was probably the scissors.

"Why don't you cut your hair?"

Edward stopped moving for a second, then his warm fingers left Roy's scalp, presumably to fetch the scissors. "When I got my automail, I was too ill to move for almost a month," Edward said after a long moment. "It got shaggy, and then Granny Pinako started tying it in a little rat rail to keep it out of the way when I was feverish. I guess I just never thought to stop and cut it after that."

The automail operation. Roy forgot often that Edward had undergone that brutal surgery to have both of the automail ports grafted to his skin and nerves at the tender age of ten. It was an operation that grown men were terrified of having, and Edward talked about it so matter-of-factly, as if it was just something that happened to him along the way.

Roy did not think he could love Edward more if he tried. "Well, I think it looks good on you."

He felt Edward's breath on his neck. "I know." His voice was low, and murmured right into Roy's ear. It made him tingle, the warm breath on the lobe. Then Edward tugged on his hair again, and resumed trimming. "Do you like it better up, or down?"

"Doesn't matter," Roy said truthfully. "I just like the long hair on you, it makes you look sexy."

Edward actually laughed, an honest, open laugh. "Well, hopefully when I'm done with you you'll look pretty damn sexy yourself, Mustang."

"I always look sexy," Roy said, insulted.

"Mm, not always."

"When haven't I?" He was injured. He *always* looked good, damn it. Edward was silent and Roy cautiously opened one eye. "Well? You can't think of any time, can you."

To his surprise, Edward started to chuckle. "No, no, it's just-" he snorted again and laughed. "I was thinking about a few months ago, when you got stuck climbing that tree."

"You're not going to let me live that down."

"Not until you do something else as stupid, no." Edward flattened some of the hair at the crown of Roy's head and kissed him there. "Consider it payback for the fact that you never, ever, *ever* used to let me forget how much of a dumbass kid I was."

"You're still a dumbass kid," Roy grunted. He flinched and closed his eyes as Edward started in on his bangs.

"Yeah, and you're still a bastard," Edward said. "Not a colonel any more, but still a bastard." There were a few more snips of the scissors, and then Edward made a satisfied noise. "There, I think I'm done."

Roy opened his eyes again carefully, and glanced down. There was dark hair on the ground all around him, and on his tunic and trousers. However, he could feel the cool autumn breeze on his neck again. "Is there a mirror?"

"What, you don't trust me?" Edward didn't sound insulted, but sometimes it was hard to tell.

"Unfortunately, I am well aware of your sense of style," Roy said dryly. "That's why I'm worried."

Edward rolled his eyes and produced a small mirror that they usually kept inside.

His hair looked ... normal. The cut was good and even. Roy put his hands on either side of his head, turning his face from side to side. It was the same cut he had had for years; with the bangs shorter than he was wearing them with the eyepatch. "Wow," he said, unable to disguise his shock.

"You don't have to sound so surprised." Edward leaned forward, draping his arms over Roy's shoulders and tilting his head in.

"Well, thank you," Roy said, putting the mirror on his lap and turning his face to Edward's so he could kiss him. "And you didn't even get me once with the scissors."

"So, does that earn me a blowjob?" Edward asked hopefully, eyebrow cocked.

Roy grinned against his mouth. "We'll see."

* * *

><p>Prompt #6 of 25 - Cleanse.<p> 


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